Fire Drills

Bel Air marks Fire Prevention Month The Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company will celebrate Fire Prevention Month with an open house from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. today at the main station at 109 S. Hickory Ave., and the Forest Hill substation at 27 E. Jarrettsville Road. The main station will offer tours of the facility, a car safety seat inspection by Maryland State Police, a booth on the county's 911 center, combat challenges between firefighters, and simulated fire drills. The auxiliary will sell pit beef and sodas.

Bel Air marks Fire Prevention Month The Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company will celebrate Fire Prevention Month with an open house from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. today at the main station at 109 S. Hickory Ave., and the Forest Hill substation at 27 E. Jarrettsville Road. The main station will offer tours of the facility, a car safety seat inspection by Maryland State Police, a booth on the county's 911 center, combat challenges between firefighters, and simulated fire drills. The auxiliary will sell pit beef and sodas.

I'm not sure what went on when the Cub Scouts visited the firehouse. All I know is that soon after our scout came home, I found myself wobbling atop the stepladder, poking smoke detectors.I was headed toward the supper table when the scout, fresh from the firehouse and still wearing his uniform, presented me with a list of matters that needed immediate attention.He reported we had to test our smoke detectors. And we had to have an escape plan, ways to get out of the house in the event of a fire.

The fire just would not go out. Howard County Engine 31 rolled up to the minivan-turned-inferno just before 5 p.m. Saturday to find the mangled vehicle spewing blankets of black diesel smoke. Four firefighters hopped off their engine, expertly unfurled a hose, attached it to a fire hydrant, and carefully but confidently approached the blaze. As they sprayed the wreck, the black smoke changed to pillows of white and the orange flames hunkered down. Satisfied, the firefighters backed away.

Ensuring that children aren't the only ones to receive fire prevention education is Angela Bowen's goal for the next year.That's why the Hampstead resident -- who recently won the Carroll County Fire Prevention Queen contest -- is offering to plan fire drills for county churches."

The fire just would not go out. Howard County Engine 31 rolled up to the minivan-turned-inferno just before 5 p.m. Saturday to find the mangled vehicle spewing blankets of black diesel smoke. Four firefighters hopped off their engine, expertly unfurled a hose, attached it to a fire hydrant, and carefully but confidently approached the blaze. As they sprayed the wreck, the black smoke changed to pillows of white and the orange flames hunkered down. Satisfied, the firefighters backed away.

The fire just would not go out. Howard County Engine 31 rolled up to the minivan-turned-inferno just before 5 p.m. Saturday to find the mangled vehicle spewing blankets of black diesel smoke. Four firefighters hopped off their engine, expertly unfurled a hose, attached it to a fire hydrant, and carefully but confidently approached the blaze. As they sprayed the wreck, the black smoke changed to pillows of white and the orange flames hunkered down. Satisfied, the firefighters backed away.

A ninth-grade student at Old Mill High School in Millersville was arrested Thursday on a charge of assaulting a fellow student.The ninth-grader, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, punched a 10th-grader in the face during a fire drill, breaking his jaw in two places. Witnesses told police the attack was unprovoked.The victim was treated at North Arundel Hospital. The ninth-grader was charged as a juvenile with assault and was released to his parents.Traffic violation leads to drug, assault chargesA Glen Burnie man was arrested on drug charges Wednesday after he led county police on a wild chase through Brooklyn Park, Pasadena and Glen Burnie, police said.

Five minutes after a three-hour mathematics final began Thursday morning, a fire alarm forced students at the Johns Hopkins University to stand outside for 15 minutes before they could return to finish the exam.Less than 12 hours later, about two dozen of the 135 students who took the Calculus 3 final expressed concerns that some had taken copies of the exam outside and discussed some of the questions.Today, Professor John M. Boardman will open a forum at 1 p.m. at Kreiger Hall to review students' concerns and consider potential options.

The 1,250 students at South Carroll High School were evacuated for 55 minutes yesterday after someone ignited a roll of toilet paper in a second-floor bathroom.The resulting fire inexplicably sent smoke throughout the F and G sections of the school, in the 1300 block of W. Old Liberty Road, about 1:40 p.m., but fire officials said it appeared that there was no other damage.Dr. Robert Bowden, an assistant principal, said he was told of smoke in a hallway at the western end of the school and sounded the alarm to evacuate the students, staff and teachers, and alert the fire department.

The fire just would not go out. Howard County Engine 31 rolled up to the minivan-turned-inferno just before 5 p.m. Saturday to find the mangled vehicle spewing blankets of black diesel smoke. Four firefighters hopped off their engine, expertly unfurled a hose, attached it to a fire hydrant, and carefully but confidently approached the blaze. As they sprayed the wreck, the black smoke changed to pillows of white and the orange flames hunkered down. Satisfied, the firefighters backed away.

Five minutes after a three-hour mathematics final began Thursday morning, a fire alarm forced students at the Johns Hopkins University to stand outside for 15 minutes before they could return to finish the exam.Less than 12 hours later, about two dozen of the 135 students who took the Calculus 3 final expressed concerns that some had taken copies of the exam outside and discussed some of the questions.Today, Professor John M. Boardman will open a forum at 1 p.m. at Kreiger Hall to review students' concerns and consider potential options.

A ninth-grade student at Old Mill High School in Millersville was arrested Thursday on a charge of assaulting a fellow student.The ninth-grader, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, punched a 10th-grader in the face during a fire drill, breaking his jaw in two places. Witnesses told police the attack was unprovoked.The victim was treated at North Arundel Hospital. The ninth-grader was charged as a juvenile with assault and was released to his parents.Traffic violation leads to drug, assault chargesA Glen Burnie man was arrested on drug charges Wednesday after he led county police on a wild chase through Brooklyn Park, Pasadena and Glen Burnie, police said.

Ensuring that children aren't the only ones to receive fire prevention education is Angela Bowen's goal for the next year.That's why the Hampstead resident -- who recently won the Carroll County Fire Prevention Queen contest -- is offering to plan fire drills for county churches."

I'm not sure what went on when the Cub Scouts visited the firehouse. All I know is that soon after our scout came home, I found myself wobbling atop the stepladder, poking smoke detectors.I was headed toward the supper table when the scout, fresh from the firehouse and still wearing his uniform, presented me with a list of matters that needed immediate attention.He reported we had to test our smoke detectors. And we had to have an escape plan, ways to get out of the house in the event of a fire.

PREPARING FOR a new school year is not supposed to be like this. The days leading up to the opening of classes should be a time for students and parents to think about new supplies, new teachers, new clothes, fresh optimism. It's still that way, but not entirely. Especially since the shooting at a Colorado high school last spring, the emphasis is on making students feel safe. Along with fire drills come survival drills and other security measures. In Jefferson County, Colo.

The dismantling of a 1910 dairy barn in Ellicott City has raised preservationists' concerns about the county's ability to protect historic buildings. Their specific worry is not the demolished wooden barn, but the fate of two other 19th-century stone buildings in the same cluster of Mount Hebron farm structures, said Mary Catherine Cochran, president of Preservation Howard County. One is a large barn thought once to have served as slave quarters, and the second is a smaller Civil War-era tenant house on the 8-acre property.